Harini was born to tulu speaking Shivalli Madhva Brahmins Paniyadi Srinivasa Upadhya and Bharathi in
Udupi as their fourth child. Her brother Vadiraj was also an actor and producer. She appeared as a child artist in films like
Sri Murugan and
Kannika for which she received one rupee for delivering the dialogues very nicely. She became a full-fledged heroine through Tamil film
Punyavathi. ==Career==